This debt must go

clearmydebts

starnac wrote: »

Morning everyone. Thank you for your kind words about the roof money.

Well kids have broken up from school and we've had a pretty full on weekend so I've promised them they don't have to do pretty much anything today. A nice lazy day in their PJ's should recharge their batteries a little.

Me? Well I've started flylady :T My sink has been shined two nights in a row now and both DH and I have been keeping on top of the washing up which hardly ever happens

Today I need to do 15 minutes in both the dining room and my bedroom. I might do two lots of 15mins in both depending how the day goes. At some point today I also need to see how I'm doing present wise and I'm supposed to be going for a run this evening. I might make a list to make it easier to see what I need to do.

Washing on
Hang on airer
Keep on top of washing up
15 mins in bedroom
15 mins in dining room
Put new diary inserts in planner
Put presents received yesterday under the tree
Meals from stores (should be easy - not leaving the house )
Kids fed and watered throughout day
15 mins in bedroom
15 mins in dining room
Check presents made and what's left to do
Make present for C
Run this evening

This should be enough I think. I hope. If not I have a few more days to get organised :eek:

Okay let's get going

Wow - busy day for you. I could do with making some do do lists as well!

starnac

starnac wrote: »

[STRIKE]Washing on[/STRIKE]
[STRIKE]Hang on airer[/STRIKE]
Keep on top of washing up on going
[STRIKE]15 mins in bedroom[/STRIKE]
[STRIKE]15 mins in dining room[/STRIKE]
[STRIKE]Put new diary inserts in planner[/STRIKE]
[STRIKE]Put presents received yesterday under the tree[/STRIKE]
Meals from stores (should be easy - not leaving the house )
Kids fed and watered throughout day on going
15 mins in bedroom
15 mins in dining room
[STRIKE]Check presents made and what's left to do[/STRIKE]
[STRIKE]Make present for C[/STRIKE]
Run this evening

Okay let's get going

That's how it's looking so far. Not bad. The dining room looks loads better. Unfortunately you can't really tell that I've done anything in the bedroom :eek: so the extra 15mins is definitely needed!

Might not be going for a run now as we've been invited to go carolling with friends. Only to a few of the older people in our congregation but it should be lovely for them and for the kids

EssexHebridean

Ace work lady! As a "veteran" FlyLady-er of several weeks now it really does make SUCH a difference...my nasty white kitchen sink has been *shock, horror!* actually white for weeks, the bathroom sink is sparkly, and the front room is tidy and a pleasure to sit in. The best bit I've found, once you get past the first days of actually having to "clean" stuff as such, is that from then on, cleaning is as easy as a quick spray and wipe. The washing up thing has also proved a massive one for me - stuff now goes to the dishwasher once we've finished eating in the evening, and pots and pans and other stuff that doesn't go in the machine is being washed before we go to bed. It's all small stuff, but if it makes a difference to your life and how you feel about your home, it makes such a big difference.

Enjoy your carolling - definitely worth scrapping the run for to do something like that! :T

Cheery_Daff

Ooh yes, enjoy your festivities! :j :j

And yep, flylady has made a HUGE difference to me too - but be careful and don't try and do EVERYTHING at once - just one lot of 15 mins each day WILL make a difference, don't burn out and start thinking 'I can't do it!' I cleared a whole room just doing 5 minute room rescues a day - it happens eventually, and that then makes everything else easier. Woo hoo!

In fact I'm blaming flylady for the fact that all my presents are bought and (mostly) wrapped, I actually met the last posting deadline :eek: and prepared all my food for our festive gathering BEFORE going away for the night, and cleared everything up and did all the washing up after everyone left last night :j :j NEVER would have bothered doing that before, but it didn't take long, mostly while the one last person was here nattering in the kitchen, and this morning it was SO nice to get up to! :j

(sorry, waffling on but I'm very enthusiastic about it - good luck!)

starnac

Thank you for your encouragement ladies. I am finding it's working. Like i said we are keeping on top of the dishes as what can happen on a busy week is that dirty dishes get put in the sink to soak, then we forget to wash them, next lot get piled on top, then we run out of room in the sink so the next lot of dirty dishes get left on the kitchen unit etc etc then the whole kitchen is filthy! Which takes a lot of cleaning and tidying up. These last couple of days, we have been washing them as we go which makes it so much easier to put away as there's only 4 of everything (instead of every plate we own!). This leaves the sink empty ready for the next lot which again gets washed and put away. The kitchen is looking great. I know it's probably common sense but it's so simple. I just hope we keep on top of it.

Cheery I am impressed with your party tidying. That has got to be the best feeling.

EH our front room is looking much better too. It was so nice to come downstairs this morning and not have to move things to sit down as the kids had sprawled out over the other settee.

The one thing that I did find hard yesterday was not blitzing the bedroom. I went out last week and needed something "nice" to wear so I pretty much pulled everything out of the wardrobe and of course I didn't put them back so yesterday in my 15minute burst I put as much as I could back on hangers and laid them on the bed as I couldn't open the wardrobe door due the the stuff in front of it Last night before I went to bed I was slightly disappointed that the bedroom wasn't completely tidy and I did wonder if I should have just tidied the whole room instead of 15minutes. It'll obviously take time to get it completely tidy as we do neglect our bedroom as it's the one room no one goes into. I just need to learn patience.

Thank you for your encouragement. Let's keep it going with more 15 minute bursts. Must check the baby steps today too.

starnac

starnac wrote: »

[STRIKE]Washing on[/STRIKE]
[STRIKE]Hang on airer[/STRIKE]
[STRIKE]Keep on top of washing up[/STRIKE]
[STRIKE]15 mins in bedroom[/STRIKE]
[STRIKE]15 mins in dining room[/STRIKE]
[STRIKE]Put new diary inserts in planner
Put presents received yesterday under the tree
Meals from stores (should be easy - not leaving the house )
Kids fed and watered throughout day[/STRIKE]
15 mins in bedroom
[STRIKE]15 mins in dining room
Check presents made and what's left to do
Make present for C[/STRIKE]
Run this evening

So I got pretty much everything done yesterday except for the extra 15 minutes in the bedroom and my run which i ditched to go carolling instead.

Carolling was so lovely. A friend of mine is a pastor's wife and she had arranged with some of the older, more frai,l people in her congregation that we would go round. There were 3 families (including us) and it was so lovely seeing the faces of the people when we got there. And they had all bought some sort of chocolate to reward the children with. So lovely. Then we called in the chip shop on the way home and took them back to her church to eat with hot chocolate and marshmallows. My kids had a great time (so did I to be fair).

List for today:

Washing up
Washing on
Hang on airer
Put clothes from airer away
15 minutes bedroom
15 minutes dining room
Set the table for Christmas
Clean for a friend
Hospital appointment
Pick DH up from work on way home from hospital
Run club
Sew fin onto blanket for DD's christmas present
Check banks (think I was paid today)
Post letters (doesn't matter if they don't make it til after christmas)

That'll do. I think. I may start wrapping presents tonight. See what DH says (as he's a better wrapper than me :rotfl: )

EssexHebridean

EPIC listage there! :eek: Glad the carolling was fun - it really sounded like it was going to be lovely!

The one thing I've had to adopt on the FlyLady thing is exactly as Cheery said - not trying to do everything at one go. It does feel odd at first to leave a room only partly tidied, but as you go along, those 15 minutes (or even, further down the line - 5 minutes) make SUCH a difference that you end up not needing more than that in each location. Are you giving DD & DS little odd jobs to do as part of it as well? I would have thought that a 5-minute approach could work superbly with kids! They always love a challenge don't they!

Cheery_Daff

Ooh, yes, your carrolling does indeed sound lovely! Bet you made those people's days. How lovely for them, and for you too!

And yes, as EH says, it's hard not to do EVERYTHING - but that's how you end up cross and annoyed! I bet another two or three days of 15 minutes and it'll be MUCH better. OUr bedroom is similar with clothes everywhere, but it didn't take long to get them back in the wardrobe and now I keep doing 5 mins a day in there and am (nearly!) keeping on top of things :j :j A good feeling!

Good luck with the rest of your list!

starnac

starnac wrote: »

List for today:

[STRIKE]Washing up
Washing on
Hang on airer
Put clothes from airer away
15 minutes bedroom[/STRIKE]
15 minutes dining room
Set the table for Christmas
[STRIKE]Clean for a friend
Hospital appointment
Pick DH up from work on way home from hospital
Run club[/STRIKE]
Sew fin onto blanket for DD's christmas present
[STRIKE]Check banks (think I was paid today)
Post letters (doesn't matter if they don't make it til after christmas)[/STRIKE]

Well I did get quite a bit done yesterday. I didn't manage to get into the dining room though but it has been done today. 15minutes in there and table has been set :j According to FB I set the table today last year too, so I'm obviously not as behind as I thought I was.

DH has half day today so when he gets home I need to pop out to get some last minute stocking fillers. We still need to wrap presents but apart from that if its not done today then stuff it! Who cares? Why I get myself in such a panic I don't know.

Fly lady still ongoing. DH remarked last night how nice it is to have an empty sink at the end of each day. Our bedroom is also looking a lot better too. I'm finding it easier to just do small little jobs now as I go rather than letting them build up into bigger jobs. Keeping this up is definitely going to be a New Years resolution!

List for today:

[STRIKE]15 minutes dining room
Set the table[/STRIKE]
15 minutes bedroom
Write list of what I need to get is afternoon
Get last minute stocking fillers
Dry clothes on airer
Put clothes from airer away
Washing up

That'll do for today I think.

starnac

EssexHebridean wrote: »

Are you giving DD & DS little odd jobs to do as part of it as well? I would have thought that a 5-minute approach could work superbly with kids! They always love a challenge don't they!

Yes they have been given jobs. Their main job is to put toys away each evening before bed. Even DS (4) is realising how easy it is to tidy when you put one thing away before starting something else. They don't always want to but they have been doing it. DD has also been given the job of setting the washing machine going. DH has taught her how to load it, put the powder in and which button to press. She loves it. I do need to think of a job for DS to be in charge of though. Any ideas on a suitable household task for a 4year old?